Fred Thompso on Georgia
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As always, Fred has put into words all of my thoughts and wrote where everyone can understand it (Why did he drop out of the race???) This is his latest at Townhall.com
Dangerous Times In Georgia Demand
Serious Leadership
by Fred
ThompsonMy mind goes back to August 2002 in Tbilisi, as I visited Georgia with John
McCain. I remember it feeling rather dark and secretive, with the former-Soviet
Union’s heavy hand still making its presence felt. President Eduard
Shevardnadze, formerly Soviet minister of foreign affairs, presented a
friendlier face to the United States, but was beset by economic problems and
corruption charges. At the time I did not fully appreciate the power of the
democratic impulses that were just beginning to bubble up and would lead to the
democratic Georgian government we now see threatened.
What has happened in Georgia since that time should not be surprising to
anyone. Certainly Russia has tried to pretty itself up: it renamed the KGB and
even gave its 21st century strongman Vladimir Putin a new title.
But for some time we’ve seen Russia sliding back to its authoritarian comfort
zone. Murder, imprisonment and property confiscation are back in vogue for any
perceived troublemaker. Former Soviet provinces have faced all forms of
intimidation, from thuggish trade shakedowns to cyber attacks that shut down
communications with the outside world. And whether a former satellite like
Poland or a longtime western ally like Germany, Russia has made overt threats
over plans to bring eastern European countries into NATO or to deploy a
U.S.-provided missile defense system.
Russia is not above using anything at its disposal to make its point. It is a
wealthy nation, built on a petro-economy that provides oil and gas to dependent
European nations, which are petrified of having their energy supplies disrupted
and are now in their own economic doldrums.
Given all this, Russia’s incursion into Georgia is a logical extension of
Putin’s autocratic words and deeds and Russia’s regional ambitions, which must
be leaving those nations closest to Russia’s borders – the Baltic states and
Ukraine – nervous about a bitter and uneasy winter.
All the while, in Eastern Europe some of America’s staunchest friends are
watching to see what the reaction of the U.S. and the west will be to Russia’s
latest gambit. The U.S. and others use the word “unacceptable,” undoubtedly with
the same effect that we get when we use it with the Iranians. So do we threaten
Russia with denial of the membership in the World Trade Organization that it so
covets? Do we expedite Georgia and the Ukraine’s entry into NATO? Do we cut off
the tens of millions that we send into Russia to – hopefully – provide for
security of nuclear materials? Everything should be on the table.
But the one thing we must not do is allow Russia to feel it can get
away with, let alone feel rewarded for, this invasion of a sovereign democratic
nation that has also loyally supported coalition efforts in Iraq…. read it all
